Jacquotte 'Red' Haye ☠ District 4 ☠ FIN

[ali]

Jacquotte 'Red' Haye ☠

EIGHTEEN

DISTRICT FOUR

PIRATE

Yo ho, yo ho, Jacquotte was born on her father's boat during a frightful storm during the height of summer. The day had been fine when the couple and crew had set out from the harbour but soon the day turned to night as clouds rolled in from out of sea; consuming the sea in wind and lightning. While the waves battered and rocked the little sea boat, beneath the deck in the cabin, a woman screamed over the howling wind and crashing thunder; the Doctor held her hand as her husband manned the boat in the storm. From above deck, the Captain and crew could barely hear the whisper of the screaming woman below as they tried to keep the boat on course through the rolling waves. All of a sudden, over the howling wind and shouts of thunder, a baby's cry was heard above deck causing all the men to stop what they were doing and look towards the cabin door. As soon as the boat had escaped the storm and the sea calmed to a still mass of green water, Captain Haye ran straight down- still drenched in seawater, rain and sweat- into the cabin where his wife and child were waiting. As he burst through the door, he was met by the sympathetic look of the on board Doctor; glancing at body on the bed, draped in a white cloth, Captain Haye realized his wife was dead. He was heartbroken. Captain Haye's collapsed to his knees with a wretched cry as the will to live left him. Holding his head in his hands, he cried "Did she pass peacefully? My wife??" "She broke out in a fever Capn' though she was asleep when she passed..." The Doctor placed a strong hand on the Captain's shoulder "And my child??" The Doctor did not have chance to reply when, from the chest of draws in the corner, came a baby's cry. Dragging himself to his feet, Captain Hayes made his way over to the chest of draws; and there nestled in the fabrics of an open draw, squirmed a baby. The child's skin was covered in dark brown speckles, making her face seem almost dirty, and her a thin mass of bright red hair sprouting from the top of her head. A pair of dark eyes stared determined up at Captain Hayes as he lifted the child from her cradle into his arms. It was then Captain Hayes named the baby girl after her mother, Jacquottee. *** Jacquotte, or "Red" as her father's ship mates called her, spent most of her early childhood living on her father's. Usually, the crew would frown upon a lady being on board their ship. There was rumour it was bad luck, but Red was no lady at all. She had no manners- to which the land ladies would frown upon- even though her father had tried to teach her. She was not having any of it. "Cross your legs" he'd tell her or tell her to not talk with her mouth full of food and, one time, he told her not to put her elbows on the table as it was unlady like; to which Jaquotte, who was barely 6 years old at the time, responded: "I ain't fucking doing that, I ain't a land lady so I ain't acting like one" Silence had promptly fallen as the crew looked to Captain Hayes, who looked shocked at his daughters statement before bursting into a cackling laughter. The crew soon joined in, laughing alongside their Captain until they all turned red in the face; after that Jacquotte's father gave up telling her to be lady-like because he realized that she never could. Aside from having no manners, Red was a stubborn mule who wouldn't give up when she wanted to get something done. Often, after weeks at sea, Red would watch one of the many seagulls that roosted upon the masts of her father's boat and pick the one she wanted to catch. Her father would ask her what she was doing and she would reply "Looking for lunch". Skilled with a slingshot and a few pebbles; and all day she would sit shooting at the bird she wanted. If she didn't catch the bird that day,she would go back the next day and shoot at the bird again until she saw the white wings tumble from their perch and hit the floor. That night she and her father would dine on the bird she had caught; that would make her proud. Despite her commonly bad nature, Red is often tender and gentle with those who are upset or need kind words to help them through their day. This is something she inherited from her mother, or so her father said. Jacquotte, not knowing her mother, took her fathers word for it and proudly continued being nice to people on the ship and on the docks. One particular moment was when the cook was feeling under the weather, hanging his head over the edge of the ship, and Red took her perch next to him and smiled. Confused, the Cook mumbled a question of what she wanted and she told him the story of the 3 blind mice that got chopped up by the cook. The cook laughed because, to be truthful, that was not how the story went but he liked her version; she was funny too, apparently. However, those who knew Red on the docks said that something dreadful happened to her the day her father was accused of piracy. She had been shore leave- much to her dismay- so she had no idea that her father's ship was over ran by peacekeepers one summer afternoon. It had been a pleasant day for most but Jacquotte was not used to the land and so the lack of movement and mulled smell of the ocean made her dizzy and nauseous. She had been sleeping beneath an oak tree by a river bend when she heard shouting in the far distance; it sounded like quite the ruckus so Red decided to check it out. Hopping to her feet, Red made her way as quickly as she could (without falling over or feeling overly dizzy) towards the little town docks. People were everywhere, shouting angirly. She had never seen such a crowd of land men and woman so angry and furious in her 16 years of living at sea! They were usually such gentle folk and there was also never this many on the docks- not even during Salmon seasons- which arouse suspicion to those who knew the ways. Shoving her way through the crowd, she heard woman swoon, children cry and men swear and push forward in a furious wave of people. Being shoved and pushed to the front of the heated crowd, Jaquotte fell to her knees into the empty space between the crowd and where the gallows were. She saw the shadows of the men swinging before she looked up and saw their faces. There were 4 of them, and all were recognized by the young sea lass. There was Rench, Peaches, Horne and- last but not least- her father. For the first time in her life, the red haired girl let out a harrowing cry of sorrow and defeat as her fathers body swung there lifelessly in the heat of the afternoon sun. The girl continued to scream as she was dragged off by two peacekeepers who desperately tried to restrain her as she screamed and screamed and screamed... After that, she was put into the care of the remaining crew members who had also been on shore leave that day. They talk to the fish wives sometimes and tell them that she don't look at you right if you weren't always good to her father or, if you spoke a word outta turn she'd shove you off the boats bow and into the sea. Others say that, 2 years on, she is close to becoming the greatest sea captain their ship- the Crow- District 4 has ever seen. However, if you ask her new crew recruits what they thought of her, they'd tell you the same thing. They would lean in close, glance cautiously behind their backs, and quietly whisper- "She is the greatest pirate you have ever seen" -from the moment she had been pulled away from the peacekeepers, who had condemned her father to his death, by another crew member, she had decided one thing, and one thing on; that from this day on, the peacekeepers were the soul enemy of her boat and crew. They should not deserve the fine jewels and food that they had grown accustomed to- the food that was shipped between here and the 12 other districts- and should pay for what they had done; to all of the men hanged there that day. She decided there were better people who needed it, like those poor children who did not have her fathers cook to give them food or the tailor to give them clothes. That day, Jacquotte decide that when the time was right, she would raise a skull and cross bones as her banner and sail the seas as the best outlaw that Panem had ever been privileged to encounter. A pirate's life for me.

JADE THOMPSON

ODAIR

ALI

[ali]

Finished

[Python]